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diff --git a/old/lodds10a.txt b/old/lodds10a.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a171c8f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/lodds10a.txt @@ -0,0 +1,879 @@ +*The Project Gutenberg Etext of Long Odds, by H. Rider Haggard* +#17 in our series by H. Rider Haggard + +This is our second version of Long Odds, also see Etext #1918. + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz +Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and Emma Dudding, emma_302@hotmail.com + + + + + +This is our second version of Long Odds, also see Etext #1918. + + + + + +Long Odds + +by H. Rider Haggard + + + + +The story which is narrated in the following pages came to me from the +lips of my old friend Allan Quatermain, or Hunter Quatermain, as we +used to call him in South Africa. He told it to me one evening when I +was stopping with him at the place he bought in Yorkshire. Shortly +after that, the death of his only son so unsettled him that he +immediately left England, accompanied by two companions, his old +fellow-voyagers, Sir Henry Curtis and Captain Good, and has now +utterly vanished into the dark heart of Africa. He is persuaded that a +white people, of which he has heard rumours all his life, exists +somewhere on the highlands in the vast, still unexplored interior, and +his great ambition is to find them before he dies. This is the wild +quest upon which he and his companions have departed, and from which I +shrewdly suspect they never will return. One letter only have I +received from the old gentleman, dated from a mission station high up +the Tana, a river on the east coast, about three hundred miles north +of Zanzibar. In it he says they have gone through many hardships and +adventures, but are alive and well, and have found traces which go far +towards making him hope that the results of their wild quest may be a +"magnificent and unexampled discovery." I greatly fear, however, that +all he has discovered is death; for this letter came a long while ago, +and nobody has heard a single word of the party since. They have +totally vanished. + +It was on the last evening of my stay at his house that he told the +ensuing story to me and Captain Good, who was dining with him. He had +eaten his dinner and drunk two or three glasses of old port, just to +help Good and myself to the end of the second bottle. It was an +unusual thing for him to do, for he was a most abstemious man, having +conceived, as he used to say, a great horror of drink from observing +its effects upon the class of men--hunters, transport riders, and +others--amongst whom he had passed so many years of his life. +Consequently the good wine took more effect on him that it would have +done on most men, sending a little flush into his wrinkled cheeks, and +making him talk more freely than usual. + +Dear old man! I can see him now, as he went limping up and down the +vestibule, with his grey hair sticking up in scrubbing-brush fashion, +his shrivelled yellow face, and his large dark eyes, that were as keen +as any hawk's, and yet soft as a buck's. The whole room was hung with +trophies of his numerous hunting expeditions, and he had some story +about every one of them, if only he could be got to tell them. +Generally he would not, for he was not very fond of narrating his own +adventures, but to-night the port wine made him more communicative. + +"Ah, you brute!" he said, stopping beneath an unusually large skull of +a lion, which was fixed just over the mantelpiece, beneath a long row +of guns, its jaws distended to their utmost width. "Ah, you brute! you +have given me a lot of trouble for the last dozen years, and will, I +suppose, to my dying day." + +"Tell us the yarn, Quatermain," said Good. "You have often promised to +tell me, and you never have." + +"You had better not ask me to," he answered, "for it is a longish +one." + +"All right," I said, "the evening is young, and there is some more +port." + +Thus adjured, he filled his pipe from a jar of coarse-cut Boer tobacco +that was always standing on the mantelpiece, and still walking up and +down the room, began-- + +"It was, I think, in the March of '69 that I was up in Sikukuni's +country. It was just after old Sequati's time, and Sikukuni had got +into power--I forget how. Anyway, I was there. I had heard that the +Bapedi people had brought down an enormous quantity of ivory from the +interior, and so I started with a waggon-load of goods, and came +straight away from Middelburg to try and trade some of it. It was a +risky thing to go into the country so early, on account of the fever; +but I knew that there were one or two others after that lot of ivory, +so I determined to have a try for it, and take my chance of fever. I +had become so tough from continual knocking about that I did not set +it down at much. + +"Well, I got on all right for a while. It is a wonderfully beautiful +piece of bush veldt, with great ranges of mountains running through +it, and round granite koppies starting up here and there, looking out +like sentinels over the rolling waste of bush. But it is very hot--hot +as a stew-pan--and when I was there that March, which, of course, is +autumn in this part of Africa, the whole place reeked of fever. Every +morning, as I trekked along down by the Oliphant River, I used to +creep from the waggon at dawn and look out. But there was no river to +be seen--only a long line of billows of what looked like the finest +cotton wool tossed up lightly with a pitchfork. It was the fever mist. +Out from among the scrub, too, came little spirals of vapour, as +though there were hundreds of tiny fires alight in it--reek rising +from thousands of tons of rotting vegetation. It was a beautiful +place, but the beauty was the beauty of death; and all those lines and +blots of vapour wrote one great word across the surface of the +country, and that word was 'fever.' + +"It was a dreadful year of illness that. I came, I remember, to one +little kraal of Knobnoses, and went up to it to see if I could get +some /maas/, or curdled butter-milk, and a few mealies. As I drew near +I was struck with the silence of the place. No children began to +chatter, and no dogs barked. Nor could I see any native sheep or +cattle. The place, though it had evidently been recently inhabited, +was as still as the bush round it, and some guinea fowl got up out of +the prickly pear bushes right at the kraal gate. I remember that I +hesitated a little before going in, there was such an air of +desolation about the spot. Nature never looks desolate when man has +not yet laid his hand upon her breast; she is only lonely. But when +man has been, and has passed away, then she looks desolate. + +"Well, I passed into the kraal, and went up to the principal hut. In +front of the hut was something with an old sheep-skin /kaross/ thrown +over it. I stooped down and drew off the rug, and then shrank back +amazed, for under it was the body of a young woman recently dead. For +a moment I thought of turning back, but my curiosity overcame me; so +going past the dead woman I went down on my hands and knees and crept +into the hut. It was so dark that I could not see anything, though I +could smell a great deal, so I lit a match. It was a 'tandstickor' +match, and burnt slowly and dimly, and as the light gradually +increased I made out what I took to be a family of people, men, women, +and children, fast asleep. Presently it burnt up brightly, and I saw +that they too, five of them altogether, were quite dead. One was a +baby. I dropped the match in a hurry, and was making my way from the +hut as quick as I could go, when I caught sight of two bright eyes +staring out of a corner. Thinking it was a wild cat, or some such +animal, I redoubled my haste, when suddenly a voice near the eyes +began first to mutter, and then to send up a succession of awful +yells. + +"Hastily I lit another match, and perceived that the eyes belonged to +an old woman, wrapped up in a greasy leather garment. Taking her by +the arm, I dragged her out, for she could not, or would not, come by +herself, and the stench was overpowering me. Such a sight as she was-- +a bag of bones, covered over with black, shrivelled parchment. The +only white thing about her was her wool, and she seemed to be pretty +well dead except for her eyes and her voice. She thought that I was a +devil come to take her, and that is why she yelled so. Well, I got her +down to the waggon, and gave her a 'tot' of Cape smoke, and then, as +soon as it was ready, poured about a pint of beef-tea down her throat, +made from the flesh of a blue vilderbeeste I had killed the day +before, and after that she brightened up wonderfully. She could talk +Zulu--indeed, it turned out that she had run away from Zululand in +T'Chaka's time--and she told me that all the people whom I had seen +had died of fever. When they had died the other inhabitants of the +kraal had taken the cattle and gone away, leaving the poor old woman, +who was helpless from age and infirmity, to perish of starvation or +disease, as the case might be. She had been sitting there for three +days among the bodies when I found her. I took her on to the next +kraal, and gave the headman a blanket to look after her, promising him +another if I found her well when I came back. I remember that he was +much astonished at my parting with two blankets for the sake of such a +worthless old creature. 'Why did I not leave her in the bush?' he +asked. Those people carry the doctrine of the survival of the fittest +to its extreme, you see. + +"It was the night after I had got rid of the old woman that I made my +first acquaintance with my friend yonder," and he nodded towards the +skull that seemed to be grinning down at us in the shadow of the wide +mantel-shelf. "I had trekked from dawn till eleven o'clock--a long +trek--but I wanted to get on, and had turned the oxen out to graze, +sending the voorlooper to look after them, my intention being to +inspan again about six o'clock, and trek with the moon till ten. Then +I got into the waggon, and had a good sleep till half-past two or so +in the afternoon, when I rose and cooked some meat, and had my dinner, +washing it down with a pannikin of black coffee--for it was difficult +to get preserved milk in those days. Just as I had finished, and the +driver, a man called Tom, was washing up the things, in comes the +young scoundrel of a voorlooper driving one ox before him. + +"'Where are the other oxen?' I asked. + +"'Koos!' he said, 'Koos! the other oxen have gone away. I turned my +back for a minute, and when I looked round again they were all gone +except Kaptein, here, who was rubbing his back against a tree.' + +"'You mean that you have been asleep, and let them stray, you villain. +I will rub your back against a stick,' I answered, feeling very angry, +for it was not a pleasant prospect to be stuck up in that fever trap +for a week or so while we were hunting for the oxen. 'Off you go, and +you too, Tom, and mind you don't come back till you have found them. +They have trekked back along the Middelburg Road, and are a dozen +miles off by now, I'll be bound. Now, no words; go both of you.' + +"Tom, the driver, swore, and caught the lad a hearty kick, which he +richly deserved, and then, having tied old Kaptein up to the +disselboom with a reim, they took their assegais and sticks, and +started. I would have gone too, only I knew that somebody must look +after the waggon, and I did not like to leave either of the boys with +it at night. I was in a very bad temper, indeed, although I was pretty +well used to these sort of occurrences, and soothed myself by taking a +rifle and going to kill something. For a couple of hours I poked about +without seeing anything that I could get a shot at, but at last, just +as I was again within seventy yards of the waggon, I put up an old +Impala ram from behind a mimosa thorn. He ran straight for the waggon, +and it was not till he was passing within a few feet of it that I +could get a decent shot at him. Then I pulled, and caught him half-way +down the spine; over he went, dead as a door-nail, and a pretty shot +it was, though I ought not to say it. This little incident put me into +rather a better humour, especially as the buck had rolled over right +against the after-part of the waggon, so I had only to gut him, fix a +reim round his legs, and haul him up. By the time I had done this the +sun was down, and the full moon was up, and a beautiful moon it was. +And then there came down that wonderful hush which sometimes falls +over the African bush in the early hours of the night. No beast was +moving, and no bird called. Not a breath of air stirred the quiet +trees, and the shadows did not even quiver, they only grew. It was +very oppressive and very lonely, for there was not a sign of the +cattle or the boys. I was quite thankful for the society of old +Kaptein, who was lying down contentedly against the disselboom, +chewing the cud with a good conscience. + +"Presently, however, Kaptein began to get restless. First he snorted, +then he got up and snorted again. I could not make it out, so like a +fool I got down off the waggon-box to have a look round, thinking it +might be the lost oxen coming. + +"Next instant I regretted it, for all of a sudden I heard a roar and +saw something yellow flash past me and light on poor Kaptein. Then +came a bellow of agony from the ox, and a crunch as the lion put his +teeth through the poor brute's neck, and I began to realize what had +happened. My rifle was in the waggon, and my first thought being to +get hold of it, I turned and made a bolt for it. I got my foot on the +wheel and flung my body forward on to the waggon, and there I stopped +as if I were frozen, and no wonder, for as I was about to spring up I +heard the lion behind me, and next second I felt the brute, ay, as +plainly as I can feel this table. I felt him, I say, sniffing at my +left leg that was hanging down. + +"My word! I did feel queer; I don't think that I ever felt so queer +before. I dared not move for the life of me, and the odd thing was +that I seemed to lose power over my leg, which had an insane sort of +inclination to kick out of its own mere motion--just as hysterical +people want to laugh when they ought to be particularly solemn. Well, +the lion sniffed and sniffed, beginning at my ankle and slowly nosing +away up to my thigh. I thought that he was going to get hold then, but +he did not. He only growled softly, and went back to the ox. Shifting +my head a little I got a full view of him. He was about the biggest +lion I ever saw, and I have seen a great many, and he had a most +tremendous black mane. What his teeth were like you can see--look +there, pretty big ones, ain't they? Altogether he was a magnificent +animal, and as I lay there sprawling on the fore-tongue of the waggon, +it occurred to me that he would look uncommonly well in a cage. He +stood there by the carcass of poor Kaptein, and deliberately +disembowelled him as neatly as a butcher could have done. All this +while I dared not move, for he kept lifting his head and keeping an +eye on me as he licked his bloody chops. When he had cleared Kaptein +out he opened his mouth and roared, and I am not exaggerating when I +say that the sound shook the waggon. Instantly there came back an +answering roar. + +"'Heavens!' I thought, 'there is his mate.' + +"Hardly was the thought out of my head when I caught sight in the +moonlight of the lioness bounding along through the long grass, and +after her a couple of cubs about the size of mastiffs. She stopped +within a few feet of my head, and stood, waved her tail, and fixed me +with her glowing yellow eyes; but just as I thought that it was all +over she turned and began to feed on Kaptein, and so did the cubs. +There were four of them within eight feet of me, growling and +quarrelling, rending and tearing, and crunching poor Kaptein's bones; +and there I lay shaking with terror, and the cold perspiration pouring +out of me, feeling like another Daniel come to judgment in a new sense +of the phrase. Presently the cubs had eaten their fill, and began to +get restless. One went round to the back of the waggon and pulled at +the Impala buck that hung there, and the other came round my way and +commenced the sniffing game at my leg. Indeed, he did more than that, +for my trouser being hitched up a little, he began to lick the bare +skin with his rough tongue. The more he licked the more he liked it, +to judge from his increased vigour and the loud purring noise he made. +Then I knew that the end had come, for in another second his file-like +tongue would have rasped through the skin of my leg--which was luckily +pretty tough--and have tasted the blood, and then there would be no +chance for me. So I just lay there and thought of my sins, and prayed +to the Almighty, and reflected that after all life was a very +enjoyable thing. + +"Then all of a sudden I heard a crashing of bushes and the shouting +and whistling of men, and there were the two boys coming back with the +cattle, which they had found trekking along all together. The lions +lifted their heads and listened, then bounded off without a sound--and +I fainted. + +"The lions came back no more that night, and by the next morning my +nerves had got pretty straight again; but I was full of wrath when I +thought of all that I had gone through at the hands, or rather noses, +of those four brutes, and of the fate of my after-ox Kaptein. He was a +splendid ox, and I was very fond of him. So wroth was I that like a +fool I determined to attack the whole family of them. It was worthy of +a greenhorn out on his first hunting trip; but I did it nevertheless. +Accordingly after breakfast, having rubbed some oil upon my leg, which +was very sore from the cub's tongue, I took the driver, Tom, who did +not half like the business, and having armed myself with an ordinary +double No. 12 smoothbore, the first breechloader I ever had, I +started. I took the smoothbore because it shot a bullet very well; and +my experience has been that a round ball from a smoothbore is quite as +effective against a lion as an express bullet. The lion is soft, and +not a difficult animal to finish if you hit him anywhere in the body. +A buck takes far more killing. + +"Well, I started, and the first thing I set to work to do was to try +to discover whereabouts the brutes lay up for the day. About three +hundred yards from the waggon was the crest of a rise covered with +single mimosa trees, dotted about in a park-like fashion, and beyond +this was a stretch of open plain running down to a dry pan, or +waterhole, which covered about an acre of ground, and was densely +clothed with reeds, now in the sere and yellow leaf. From the further +edge of this pan the ground sloped up again to a great cleft, or +nullah, which had been cut out by the action of the water, and was +pretty thickly sprinkled with bush, amongst which grew some large +trees, I forget of what sort. + +"It at once struck me that the dry pan would be a likely place to find +my friends in, as there is nothing a lion is fonder of than lying up +in reeds, through which he can see things without being seen himself. +Accordingly thither I went and prospected. Before I had got half-way +round the pan I found the remains of a blue vilderbeeste that had +evidently been killed within the last three or four days and partially +devoured by lions; and from other indications about I was soon assured +that if the family were not in the pan that day they spent a good deal +of their spare time there. But if there, the question was how to get +them out; for it was clearly impossible to think of going in after +them unless one was quite determined to commit suicide. Now there was +a strong wind blowing from the direction of the waggon, across the +reedy pan towards the bush-clad kloof or donga, and this first gave me +the idea of firing the reeds, which, as I think I told you, were +pretty dry. Accordingly Tom took some matches and began starting +little fires to the left, and I did the same to the right. But the +reeds were still green at the bottom, and we should never have got +them well alight had it not been for the wind, which grew stronger and +stronger as the sun climbed higher, and forced the fire into them. At +last, after half-an-hour's trouble, the flames got a hold, and began +to spread out like a fan, whereupon I went round to the further side +of the pan to wait for the lions, standing well out in the open, as we +stood at the copse to-day where you shot the woodcock. It was a rather +risky thing to do, but I used to be so sure of my shooting in those +days that I did not so much as mind the risk. Scarcely had I got round +when I heard the reeds parting before the onward rush of some animal. +'Now for it,' said I. On it came. I could see that it was yellow, and +prepared for action, when instead of a lion out bounded a beautiful +reit bok which had been lying in the shelter of the pan. It must, by +the way, have been a reit bok of a peculiarly confiding nature to lay +itself down with the lion, like the lamb of prophecy, but I suppose +the reeds were thick, and that it kept a long way off. + +"Well, I let the reit bok go, and it went like the wind, and kept my +eyes fixed upon the reeds. The fire was burning like a furnace now; +the flames crackling and roaring as they bit into the reeds, sending +spouts of fire twenty feet and more into the air, and making the hot +air dance above it in a way that was perfectly dazzling. But the reeds +were still half green, and created an enormous quantity of smoke, +which came rolling towards me like a curtain, lying very low on +account of the wind. Presently, above the crackling of the fire, I +heard a startled roar, then another and another. So the lions were at +home. + +"I was beginning to get excited now, for, as you fellows know, there +is nothing in experience to warm up your nerves like a lion at close +quarters, unless it is a wounded buffalo; and I became still more so +when I made out through the smoke that the lions were all moving about +on the extreme edge of the reeds. Occasionally they would pop their +heads out like rabbits from a burrow, and then, catching sight of me +standing about fifty yards away, draw them back again. I knew that it +must be getting pretty warm behind them, and that they could not keep +the game up for long; and I was not mistaken, for suddenly all four of +them broke cover together, the old black-maned lion leading by a few +yards. I never saw a more splendid sight in all my hunting experience +than those four lions bounding across the veldt, overshadowed by the +dense pall of smoke and backed by the fiery furnace of the burning +reeds. + +"I reckoned that they would pass, on their way to the bushy kloof, +within about five and twenty yards of me, so, taking a long breath, I +got my gun well on to the lion's shoulder--the black-maned one--so as +to allow for an inch or two of motion, and catch him through the +heart. I was on, dead on, and my finger was just beginning to tighten +on the trigger, when suddenly I went blind--a bit of reed-ash had +drifted into my right eye. I danced and rubbed, and succeeded in +clearing it more or less just in time to see the tail of the last lion +vanishing round the bushes up the kloof. + +"If ever a man was mad I was that man. It was too bad; and such a shot +in the open! However, I was not going to be beaten, so I just turned +and marched for the kloof. Tom, the driver, begged and implored me not +to go, but though as a personal rule I never pretend to be very brave +(which I am not), I was determined that I would either kill those +lions or they should kill me. So I told Tom that he need not come +unless he liked, but I was going; and being a plucky fellow, a Swazi +by birth, he shrugged his shoulders, muttered that I was mad or +bewitched, and followed doggedly in my tracks. + +"We soon reached the kloof, which was about three hundred yards in +length and but sparsely wooded, and then the real fun began. There +might be a lion behind every bush--there certainly were four lions +somewhere; the delicate question was, where. I peeped and poked and +looked in every possible direction, with my heart in my mouth, and was +at last rewarded by catching a glimpse of something yellow moving +behind a bush. At the same moment, from another bush opposite me out +burst one of the cubs and galloped back towards the burnt pan. I +whipped round and let drive a snap shot that tipped him head over +heels, breaking his back within two inches of the root of the tail, +and there he lay helpless but glaring. Tom afterwards killed him with +his assegai. I opened the breech of the gun and hurriedly pulled out +the old case, which, to judge from what ensued, must, I suppose, have +burst and left a portion of its fabric sticking to the barrel. At any +rate, when I tried to get in the new cartridge it would only enter +half-way; and--would you believe it?--this was the moment that the +lioness, attracted no doubt by the outcry of her cub, chose to put in +an appearance. There she stood, twenty paces or so from me, lashing +her tail and looking just as wicked as it is possible to conceive. +Slowly I stepped backwards, trying to push in the new case, and as I +did so she moved on in little runs, dropping down after each run. The +danger was imminent, and the case would not go in. At the moment I +oddly enough thought of the cartridge maker, whose name I will not +mention, and earnestly hoped that if the lion got /me/ some condign +punishment would overtake /him/. It would not go in, so I tried to +pull it out. It would not come out either, and my gun was useless if I +could not shut it to use the other barrel. I might as well have had no +gun. + +"Meanwhile I was walking backward, keeping my eye on the lioness, who +was creeping forward on her belly without a sound, but lashing her +tail and keeping her eye on me; and in it I saw that she was coming in +a few seconds more. I dashed my wrist and the palm of my hand against +the brass rim of the cartridge till the blood poured from them--look, +there are the scars of it to this day!" + +Here Quatermain held up his right hand to the light and showed us four +or five white cicatrices just where the wrist is set into the hand. + +"But it was not of the slightest use," he went on; "the cartridge +would not move. I only hope that no other man will ever be put in such +an awful position. The lioness gathered herself together, and I gave +myself up for lost, when suddenly Tom shouted out from somewhere in my +rear-- + +"'You are walking on to the wounded cub; turn to the right.' + +"I had the sense, dazed as I was, to take the hint, and slewing round +at right-angles, but still keeping my eyes on the lioness, I continued +my backward walk. + +"To my intense relief, with a low growl she straightened herself, +turned, and bounded further up the kloof. + +"'Come on, Inkoos,' said Tom, 'let's get back to the waggon.' + +"'All right, Tom,' I answered. 'I will when I have killed those three +other lions,' for by this time I was bent on shooting them as I never +remember being bent on anything before or since. 'You can go if you +like, or you can get up a tree.' + +"He considered the position a little, and then he very wisely got up a +tree. I wish that I had done the same. + +"Meanwhile I had found my knife, which had an extractor in it, and +succeeded after some difficulty in pulling out the cartridge which had +so nearly been the cause of my death, and removing the obstruction in +the barrel. It was very little thicker than a postage-stamp; certainly +not thicker than a piece of writing-paper. This done, I loaded the +gun, bound a handkerchief round my wrist and hand to staunch the +flowing of the blood, and started on again. + +"I had noticed that the lioness went into a thick green bush, or +rather a cluster of bushes, growing near the water, about fifty yards +higher up, for there was a little stream running down the kloof, and I +walked towards this bush. When I got there, however, I could see +nothing, so I took up a big stone and threw it into the bushes. I +believe that it hit the other cub, for out it came with a rush, giving +me a broadside shot, of which I promptly availed myself, knocking it +over dead. Out, too, came the lioness like a flash of light, but quick +as she went I managed to put the other bullet into her ribs, so that +she rolled right over three times like a shot rabbit. I instantly got +two more cartridges into the gun, and as I did so the lioness rose +again and came crawling towards me on her fore-paws, roaring and +groaning, and with such an expression of diabolical fury on her +countenance as I have not often seen. I shot her again through the +chest, and she fell over on to her side quite dead. + +"That was the first and last time that I ever killed a brace of lions +right and left, and, what is more, I never heard of anybody else doing +it. Naturally I was considerably pleased with myself, and having again +loaded up, I went on to look for the black-maned beauty who had killed +Kaptein. Slowly, and with the greatest care, I proceeded up the kloof, +searching every bush and tuft of grass as I went. It was wonderfully +exciting work, for I never was sure from one moment to another but +that he would be on me. I took comfort, however, from the reflection +that a lion rarely attacks a man--rarely, I say; sometimes he does, as +you will see--unless he is cornered or wounded. I must have been +nearly an hour hunting after that lion. Once I thought I saw something +move in a clump of tambouki grass, but I could not be sure, and when I +trod out the grass I could not find him. + +"At last I worked up to the head of the kloof, which made a /cul-de- +sac/. It was formed of a wall of rock about fifty feet high. Down this +rock trickled a little waterfall, and in front of it, some seventy +feet from its face, was a great piled-up mass of boulders, in the +crevices and on the top of which grew ferns, grasses, and stunted +bushes. This mass was about twenty-five feet high. The sides of the +kloof here were also very steep. Well, I came to the top of the nullah +and looked all round. No signs of the lion. Evidently I had either +overlooked him further down, or he had escaped right away. It was very +vexatious; but still three lions were not a bad bag for one gun before +dinner, and I was fain to be content. Accordingly I departed back +again, making my way round the isolated pillar of boulders, beginning +to feel, as I did so, that I was pretty well done up with excitement +and fatigue, and should be more so before I had skinned those three +lions. When I had got, as nearly as I could judge, about eighteen +yards past the pillar or mass of boulders, I turned to have another +look round. I have a pretty sharp eye, but I could see nothing at all. + +"Then, on a sudden, I saw something sufficiently alarming. On the top +of the mass of boulders, opposite to me, standing out clear against +the rocks beyond, was the huge black-maned lion. He had been crouching +there, and now arose as though by magic. There he stood lashing his +tail, just like a living reproduction of the animal on the gateway of +Northumberland House that I have seen in a picture. But he did not +stand long. Before I could fire--before I could do more than get the +gun to my shoulder--he sprang straight up and out from the rock, and +driven by the impetus of that one mighty bound came hurtling through +the air towards me. + +"Heavens! how grand he looked, and how awful! High into the air he +flew, describing a great arch. Just as he touched the highest point of +his spring I fired. I did not dare to wait, for I saw that he would +clear the whole space and land right upon me. Without a sight, almost +without aim, I fired, as one would fire a snap shot at a snipe. The +bullet told, for I distinctly heard its thud above the rushing sound +caused by the passage of the lion through the air. Next second I was +swept to the ground (luckily I fell into a low, creeper-clad bush, +which broke the shock) and the lion was on the top of me, and the next +those great white teeth of his had met in my thigh--I heard them grate +against the bone. I yelled out in agony, for I did not feel in the +least benumbed and happy, like Dr. Livingstone--who, by the way, I +knew very well--and gave myself up for dead. But suddenly, as I did +so, the lion's grip on my thigh loosened, and he stood over me, +swaying to and fro, his huge mouth, from which the blood was gushing, +wide open. Then he roared, and the sound shook the rocks. + +"To and fro he swung, and suddenly the great head dropped on me, +knocking all the breath from my body, and he was dead. My bullet had +entered in the centre of his chest and passed out on the right side of +the spine about half-way down the back. + +"The pain of my wound kept me from fainting, and as soon as I got my +breath I managed to drag myself from under him. Thank heavens, his +great teeth had not crushed my thigh-bone; but I was losing a great +deal of blood, and had it not been for the timely arrival of Tom, with +whose aid I loosed the handkerchief from my wrist and tied it round my +leg, twisting it tight with a stick, I think that I should have bled +to death. + +"Well, it was a just reward for my folly in trying to tackle a family +of lions single-handed. The odds were too long. I have been lame ever +since, and shall be to my dying day; in the month of March the wound +always troubles me a great deal, and every three years it breaks out +raw. + +"I need scarcely add that I never traded the lot of ivory at +Sikukuni's. Another man got it--a German--and made five hundred pounds +out of it after paying expenses. I spent the month on the broad of my +back, and was a cripple for six months after that. And now I've told +you the yarn, so I will have a drop of Hollands and go to bed. Good- +night to you all, good-night!" + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Long Odds, by H. Rider Haggard + |